1 Tel Aviv Crowned World's Vegan Capital, Page 4
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The tel aviv crowned world’s since 1966 vegan capital, page 4 No. 203 winter 2017 kislev 5777 ‘They shall not hurt nor destroy 1 on all my holy mountain’ (Isaiah) in my surname - I recently got married, Welcome to and will be sharing my tips for planning an eco, vegan, fairtrade function/event in the winter the next magazine. Wishing all of our lovely readers a 2017 issue of very happy new year, the jewish Lara Balsam vegetarian Director, Jewish Vegetarian Society ith 2018 just around the corner we are eagerly awaiting the release of the film version Wof Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, ‘Eating Animals’, which has played a big role in inspiring people to move towards a veggie diet. Richard Branson’s recent comment, ‘‘In the near future, we’ll think it’s “archaic” to kill animals for food”, has given a great platform to companies developing vegan ‘meats’, which we anticipate will take supermarkets and restaurants by storm in the coming years, find out more on page 26. In this, our last issue of 2017, read JVS Patron Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg’s response to the recent British parliamentary the future of food, p26 vote on animal sentience (page 6). Further afield, Tel Aviv has been rownedc the world’s vegan capital. With more vegans per capita than any other country on earth, Israel is fast becoming a veggie paradise, see the full story on page 4. Speaking of veggie paradise, don’t miss the delicious chanukah and all year round recipes over on page 15. Eagle-eyed readers will notice a change revealed: uk’s most vegan- front page: mini aubergines with basil sauce from bana, tel aviv friendly cities, p5 2 inside this issue... mayim bialik’s doughnut recipe, p20 tel aviv crowned world’s vegan capital, p4 how to go vegan guide launches, p29 animal sentience: a jewish perspective, p6 gardeners’ corner, p22 3 easy, here; it’s a chance to sample the tel aviv best food in town. Thanks to the sun- kissed climate, high quality fruit and veg crowned is never too far – you can see it in the colour, taste it in the flavour and smell it world’s in the aroma of what’s on your plate.” Actually, make that 300,000 vegans, vegan capital according to Vegan Friendly, a local association of happy herbivores celebrating their ascent. The number, they say, has been soaring non-stop since 2012, and shows no sign of stopping, giving Israeli vegans the kind of buying power that prompts entrepreneurs to take notice. There are now more than 3,000 certified vegan products available in Israel, including everything from leather-free shoes to egg-free treats, and more and more of the country’s politicians, athletes, and entertainers swear by the plant-based diet. A masterpiece from Bana To celebrate Tel Aviv’s crowning achievement, then, and to help vegans Forget the shawarma: These days, Israel plotting their next vacation, here are is all about plant-based creations... three of Israel’s finest plant-based hen you think of Israeli cuisine, you’re probably thinking grilled meats, W fresh fish, and other carnivorous delights. But these days, Israel is going plant-based, and it has a new distinction to prove it: Last week, the Independent crowned Tel Aviv the vegan capital of the world. “With 400 vegan and vegan-friendly kitchens catering to most of Israel’s 200,000 vegans,” gushed the venerable newspaper, “going meat-free isn’t just Bright colours and bold flavours from Meshek Barzilay 4 eateries: Indian dosas. - Nanuchka: Once upon a time, Tel - Bana: By far Tel Aviv’s hottest new Aviv’s trendiest gastro-pub took great restaurant, Bana looks like it belongs right pride in its owner’s Georgian heritage, on Venice Beach, with an airy California which meant that meat and cheese were decor and a menu that believes vegetables not only on the menu but were, more are good enough in their own right and or less, the menu entire. But then the shouldn’t have to pretend that they’re owner, Nana Schrier, went vegan, and cheese just to pass muster. From papaya took her kitchen vegan with her. These avocado salad with watercress and cacao days, the drinks are still stellar, but nibs to steamed spinach with cacao butter the menu shines even brighter, with over toasted whole spelt baguette smeared butternut squash dumplings, panko- with maple butter and ground brazil nut, crusted artichokes on a bed of whipped the menu here is everything a top notch beets, or zucchini stuffed with quinoa restaurant in a top notch eating town and cranberries. should be. - Meshek Barzilay: This beloved be’teavon staple of Tel Aviv’s Neveh Tzedek To our plant-based friends, . To neighborhood started life on an organic the rest of you, what are you waiting for? farm, and moving to the big city did This story originally appeared in little to impact the organic, earthy vibe. Tablet magazine, at tabletmag.com, Everything here is intensely fresh and and is reprinted with permission. wonderfully delicious, with an eclectic Written By Liel Leibovitz, Liel is a menu that brings together different senior writer for Tablet Magazine. vegan-friendly cuisines, from gnocchi with olives and walnut pâté to hearty A bountiful feast at Nanuchka 5 Though British law is among the best animal in the world, it still falls short in many respects. An affirmative decision would sentience: have been a vote against complacency and consequent cruelty. a jewish Jewish law has long acknowledged that animals feel, and suffer. The Talmudic perspective phrase ts’aar ba’alei chayim means just that, ‘the suffering of animals’. Whereas the exact application of the prohibition in specific instances remains debatable, it certainly forbids the inflicting of both physical and emotional pain. The response to Jeremy Bentham’s much quoted dictum that “The question is not ‘Can they reason?’ Nor ‘Can they talk?’ But ‘Can they suffer’” was evident six centuries earlier to Maimonides, who wrote in his Guide for the Perplexed: (3:48) For in these cases (of exposure to the suffering and death of its young) n 5 November the British animals feel very great pain, there being Parliament voted by 313 no difference regarding this pain between votes to 295 not to transfer man and the other animals. OEuropean protocol on animal He regarded the emotional faculties, sentience into UK law. unlike the rational and intellectual, as It is argued that this was merely a similar in animals and humans. procedural matter; the government Rabbi Ezekiel Landau of Prague (1713 considered the issue sufficiently covered – 1793) was asked if it was permitted under pre-existing British legislation. for a Jew to go hunting. After weighing It is certainly fair to say that this was different aspects of the issue (what if not a vote in support of the notion that a person has no other way of making animals are unfeeling, or that they may a living? Is entering the abode of wild be treated as such. animals putting one’s life gratuitously at Nevertheless, the result is a missed risk?) he concludes that the only hunters opportunity, arguably more on the in the Torah are Nimrod and Esau, philosophical than the legal level. As the famous for their brutality, and certainly actor and animal-activist Peter Egan said, not role models for a Jew, or, for that fifty billion animals are killed each year matter, any compassionate human being. so that humans can have a burger, steak The wider question, though, is our or sandwich. Most of them live, and die, relationship to nature as a whole, and in appalling conditions across the world. to the other forms of life with which 6 we share this planet. Firmly rejecting and considerably less exploitative the critique that it is the very Bible relationship with both domestic and which tells us that man has unlimited wild animals, we will end up devouring dominion over the earth, Jewish and every living thing, including, eventually, Christian environmentalists have rightly ourselves.’ argued that, on the contrary, we are A vote affirming animal sentience stewards and trustees of creation. What would at least have been an ‘dominion’ really means is acting with acknowledgement of the direction in due regard for this all-encompassing which we must urgently travel. *Article responsibility. The issue is both urgent written by JVS Patron Rabbi Jonathan and critical. In a televised debate Wittenberg, who is Senior Rabbi of following the publication of Silent Masorti Judaism UK. Spring, a seminal book which helped found the science of ecology, Rachel Jonathan has recently released Carson made the profound observation ‘Things My Dog Has Taught Me that we’re challenged as mankind has About being a better human’ - he never been challenged before to prove says his dogs have taught him -- our maturity and our mastery not of more than anything else -- how to nature, but of ourselves. appreciate the wonderful world in To anyone who spends time with which we live -- and how to develop animals and who witnesses their response better relationships with his friends to brutality on the one hand, or careful and families. In this wonderful, husbandry and affection on the other, it warm account of one man and his is obvious that animals have feeling. They dog, Jonathan brings all the big suffer; they love; they sometimes seem themes of friendship, faithfulness, to comprehend dimensions of feeling kindness, cruelty, grief, prayer and of which the humans around them are spiritual companionship to the fore, unaware; they even often forgive.